Public outreach

“I appreciate your newsletters because they are so informative. They have helped shape my previously uninformed perspective on prisons and their costs as related to the funding of our education system. Thank you so much for the work you do!” —BTB newsletter subscriber

In addition to providing books and educational materials to incarcerated people who do not have access to them, Books Through Bars also strives to educate the general public about prison issues. Our public outreach has included:

Sitting on panels and staffing tables at community events to raise awareness around prison issues. Examples include staffing a table at a screening of the documentary “The House I Live In” at the Enon Tabernackle Baptist Church and being present at the Painted Bride’s Art and Incarceration event.

Hosting numerous events to raise awareness about prison issues, including a film festival, read-a-thons, a public conversation on alternatives to prisons, and a display of quilts made by prisoner-volunteers in Angola’s hospice program

Coordinating art exhibitions of “Contexts,” a collection of artwork by prisoners, across the tri-state area

Publishing the bookInsider’s Art: The Contexts Collection by Artists in Prison

Publishing a yearly newsletter that highlights BTB’s activities and volunteers and includes articles about current state and national prison issues.